"Despite improvement in the economic conditions, trade policy from U.S. is a great uncertainty and also China's own domestic reform could affect medium growth. But the worst of the exports cycle is already behind us", said Irvin Seah, economist at DBS bank.In a speech on Monday, Singapore's central bank chief Ravi Menon underscored the anxiety felt by export-reliant economies such as Singapore, and cited Trump's rejection of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal as well as threats to label major trade partners as currency manipulators and impose heavy import tariffs on them as risk factors. "Some of these actions may well attract retaliatory measures, leading to trade conflicts with disastrous consequences for the global economy," Menon said. (http://bit.ly/2jAmVAX)Singapore's economy has been on the ropes in the last two years with growth slipping to a seven-year low 1.8 percent in 2016, as exports fell away amid slow world growth. "This recent strong print (in exports data) might be in a nascent stage, and could actually be dampened by geopolitical tensions as well as the rise in protectionism," said Weiwen Ng, an economist for ANZ.

Source: The Star January 17, 2017 03:28 UTC